Strengthening South Australia’s child sex offender laws

Tougher penalties and expanded police powers are among the changes to South Australia’s child sex offender laws passed by State Parliament.

Under the changes, registrable child sex offenders will be required to report details of any social media accounts to Police as part of their reporting requirements, to enhance SAPOL’s ability to conduct comprehensive compliance checks and ensure offenders aren’t engaging in prohibited contact with children.

In addition, the penalty for offenders who fail to provide passwords, codes or information to allow police to gain access to data stored on a computer or other device has been increased from two years imprisonment to five years imprisonment or a fine of up to $25,000.

The bill also makes amendments to better reflect the serious nature of the offence of committing sexual abuse against a child. Under the changes, offenders convicted of a single count of this offence would be classified as registrable repeat offenders in recognition of the single offence involving multiple instances of abuse against a child. This change would ensure that these offenders are subject to lifetime reporting requirements, and it would also give the Commissioner of Police the power to impose additional reporting requirements or a requirement to be electronically monitored.

These changes build on the extensive reform this Labor Government has undertaken since coming to Government in 2022 including:

• Nation leading indefinite detention for repeat serious child sex offenders.
• Introduction and passage of legislation to establish a public child sex offender register.
• Increased penalties for a range of child sex offences, such as increasing the maximum penalty for gross indecency with or in the presence of a child under the age of 16 from five to 15 years.
• Legislated to ban child sex offenders from working in places that also hire underage employees, such as hospitality or retail.
• Strengthened Carly’s Law, so that tough penalties apply to offenders who communicate online with police officers posing as fictitious children.
• Expanding search powers for police to enter and search the premises of all registrable child sex offenders to ensure they are complying with their requirements. This has allowed police to search devices of registered offenders at any location, not just in the offender’s home.

Quotes

Attributable to Kyam Maher

The inclusion of offenders convicted of a single count of sexual abuse of a child as registrable repeat offenders is an important provision moving forward, as the offence itself covers multiple instances of abuse.

It’s one of the worst offences on the books, and covers multiple instances of unlawful sexual acts against a child - carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

This is why we have sought to ensure such offenders are subject to the same requirements as other serious, repeat offenders.

Toughening the penalties for failing to cooperate with authorities seeking access to computers, tablets or other devices should also send a clear message that we will not tolerate any attempts by offenders to try and cover their digital tracks and avoid complying with the requirements under the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act.